Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

U.S. Abortion Rate Drops To Lowest Since Roe V. Wade

The researchers credit improved access to contraception and an increase in state regulations on the procedure.

The Associated Press:
New Report: Abortions In US Drop To Lowest Level Since 1974
Even as the election outcome intensifies America's abortion debate, a comprehensive new survey finds the annual number of abortions in the U.S has dropped to well under 1 million, the lowest level since 1974. The report, which counted 926,200 abortions in 2014, was released Tuesday by the Guttmacher Institute, a research group which supports abortion rights. It is the only entity which strives to count all abortions in the U.S.; the latest federal survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lacks data from California, Maryland and New Hampshire. (1/17)

Los Angeles Times:
Abortion Rate Declines To Historic Low, With Obamacare A Likely Contributor, Study Says
“We saw declines in abortion in almost every single state,” said Jenna Jerman, a public health researcher at the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights think tank in New York, and a coauthor of the study, which was published Tuesday in the journal Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. Though the study did not look at the reasons for the decline, the authors and other experts suggested that improved access to contraception played the biggest role by preventing unintended pregnancies. (Agrawal, 1/17)

The Philadelphia Inquirer/Philly.com:
Report: U.S. Abortion Rate Reaches Historic Low
The abortion rate has fallen to the lowest level ever recorded, even lower than before the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision made abortion legal nationally in 1973, a new report finds. The analysis by the Guttmacher Institute, a research center that supports abortion rights, attributes the trend mostly to better access to contraception and fewer unintended pregnancies. About 62 percent of the decline in the number of abortions in recent years occurred in the 28 states that did not have new abortion restrictions. (McCullough, 1/17)

Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Abortion In The United States At Historical Lows, Researchers Find
The number of abortions in the United States dipped below 1 million in 2013 and 2014, hitting its lowest mark in more than 40 years, a new report found. The report published Tuesday by the Guttmacher Institute, a think tank that does research and policy analysis on reproductive health, does not investigate the reason for the drop. But researchers surmise that better use of contraception led to fewer unwanted pregnancies and new state laws putting greater restrictions on abortion cut down on numbers. (Higgs, 1/17)

WBUR:
U.S. Abortion Rate Falls To Lowest Level Since Roe V. Wade
The abortion rate in the United States fell to its lowest level since the historic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalized abortion nationwide, a new report finds. The report by the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports legalized abortion, puts the rate at 14.6 abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age (ages 15-44) in 2014. That's the lowest recorded rate since the Roe decision in 1973. The abortion rate has been declining for decades — down from a peak of 29.3 in 1980 and 1981. (McCammon, 1/17)

Meanwhile, lawmakers in Iowa are mulling a bill that would let women sue doctors following an abortion —